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by Ananda Kannangara

One of the country's pioneer polythene bags' manufacturer, the Plastic Packaging (Pvt) Ltd, Ratmalana will venture into manufacturing degradable polythene bags for the export market.

It is said that the manufacturing technology of these degradable polythene bags have already been tested at the Industrial Technology Institute (Successor to the CISIR) in Sri Lanka according to the American Standards for Testing Materials (ASTM).

"The idea of manufacturing these degradable polythene bags came with the main objective of restricting the use of non degradable polythene bags and sheets which have become an environmental hazard in the world today," Plastic Packaging (Pvt) Ltd, Chairman Mervyn Dias told the Daily News.

He said the necessity of degradable bags for the day-to-day use has been a longfelt need considering the massive environmental disaster countries all over face today.

"Manufacturing of degradable polythene bags is a long process. A special master batch (additive) made in USA is to be used for this purpose. Once this additive is mixed with the normal polythene resin and processed, the resulting film or bag degrade will be like paper or wood.

There are also different additives that can be used for different degrading mechanisms such as UV, UV and oxidation and biological degradation.

He said that the degradation periods can be controlled by using different loading dosages of the additives to the main resin. "Generally if 1.5 per cent of the additive is used in the resin the film will degrade within 10-12 months while if 2.5 is added it will degrade within 6-8 months.

He said that the dosages will have to be increased for the bag to degrade faster. For example 3.5 per cent will degrade within 5-6 months, he said.

When asked whether there are any environmentally safe alternatives available to Sri Lankans in case a ban is imposed on normal polythene bags commonly used today he said that paper bags and cloth bags are the alternatives to polythene bags.

"But there are disadvantages in using paper bags and cloth bags," he said. Paper bags are not water proof and cannot be used to carry frozen foods. They cannot be used even to carry heavy items. The cloth bags too cannot be used to carry frozen food items.

"Therefore the best option would be the degradable plastic bags. The lifetime of these bags can be controlled. These bags are made to degrade through heat, sunlight, oxygen and bacteria."

He said that the price of degradable bags would be more than the non-degradable bags due to the high price of additives to be used in the degradable process required. The cost will be higher but competitive.

With increased usage, efficiency and knowledge of the process the cost should come down. Therefore there are alternatives available in the market and it is up to the Sri Lankan to decide about making the correct choice," he said.

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